What makes the Aero a great boat for both racing and day-sailing is its light weight, speed, and flexibility. The weight of the hull is a mere 66 lbs (less than an Optimist) and the Aero’s all-up weight fitted out with its carbon-fiber spars, square-top sail, and composite foils is well under 100 lbs total. In short, the boat is light and strong, making it easy to manage off the water and FAST on the water.

The Aero’s light weight and modern chined hull design make the boat exceedingly fast — top recorded speed is over 16 knots — and FUN to sail upwind and down. There are three sail sizes for the Aero: 5, 7, and 9 square meters, making the boat accessible to juniors, women, and men and providing flexibility to match sail size to sailor weight and wind conditions.

The CYC Aero Fleet is building quickly and racing is underway. 2015 saw weeknight racing begin at CYC on Thursday evenings and the Seattle fleet was instrumental in organizing the inaugural RS North Americans at the Columbia Gorge— won by a Seattle Aero sailor. A full calendar of regattas, weeknight sailing, clinics, frostbite racing, and speed events is planned for 2016. You don’t have to be an expert racer to join the fun and excitement — the local fleet already has a healthy range of sailors from expert dinghy sailor to brand-new to the sport racers, and several local owners sail the boat just for fast, easy fun.

How Do I Get Involved

The Aero is distributed locally by West Coast Sailing in Portland with an active owner’s group here at CYC Seattle. For more information, see AeroNautic. To set up a demo sail or learn more about the boat, contact dstumberger@hotmail.com. The fleet also has a Google Group mailing list, go here to sign up and view the posts.